Pom Pom
Template:Character-infobox Pom Pom is a boss who debuted in the Nintendo 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land. She appears to be both the female counterpart and partner of Boom Boom. She is also seen wielding a boomerang with a ribbon on it. Pom Pom often appears on airships where she could fight Mario or Luigi. She is the fourth female member of the Koopa Troop to appear in the Mario series, the first three being Wendy O. Koopa, Kammy Koopa, and Kamella. Pom Pom shares her name with a loose, fluffy material used by cheerleaders and sports fans, or in crafts, the pom-pom.
History
Super Mario series
Super Mario 3D Land
At the beginning of Super Mario 3D Land, Pom Pom, Boom Boom, Bowser and the Koopa Troop had invaded the Mushroom Kingdom during a storm, stole the Super Leaves and kidnapped Princess Peach.
After the defeat of Boom Boom in World 3, Pom Pom resides in her pink airship, first seen in World 4. In battle, Pom Pom will throw boomerangs at Mario, a maximum of 2 Boomerangs, and jump a fair distance, similar to a Boomerang Bro (though she does back flips and front flips). When Pom Pom takes damage, she will hover in her shell and try to land on Mario, unlike Boom Boom. This can be avoided by stepping to the side, and repeatedly jumping on top of her shell during her hover attack will yield a number of 1-Up Mushrooms. After taking three hits from Mario's stomps, Pom Pom is defeated and will vanish while releasing ten coins.
Pom Pom reappears in World 6; this time, the arena's floor is covered in fire on the side of the platforms. She will occasionally jump to different platforms in this battle, but otherwise is fought the same. In World 7, Pom Pom will fight her last battle in the regular worlds with Mario, alongside her partner Boom Boom. Unlike the first two encounters, she will throw a maximum of 3 boomerangs instead of 2. After defeating Bowser, she and Boom Boom appear frequently in the Special Worlds, fighting against Mario and Luigi until the last level. For unknown reasons, shortly before fighting the Mario Bros., she winks at them in a somewhat flirtatious manner.
On a side note, both Pom Pom and Boom Boom are referred to in the plural sense on the European and Australian websites of Super Mario 3D Land[1], rather than individuals in the overall Boom Boom species. Therefore, it's possible that the player is fighting different Pom Poms and Boom Booms on the various ships, although the North American website suggests that they're one pair of recurring characters[2], the Prima guide refers to them in the singular, and even the Japanese website implies Pom Pom is a unique individual by describing her as 「クッパ軍の紅一点。」, meaning "The Koopa army's lone female."[3].
Super Mario 3D World
Pom Pom returns in Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U. She appears the same, but is now smaller when compared to Boom Boom. She appears to be wielding many shuriken, rather than a boomerang, and she uses transparent clones (the number of which varies depending on where fought and how many hits she took) to aid her in her boss fights, who also throw shurikens. The difference between her and the clones lie mostly in her colors and the color of her shuriken (the clones have gray shurikens while she has a pink one). She is the boss of World 3, but Mario and the others have a rematch with her in World 
Bowser-
Train, where she produces more clones. In her third encounter in World 
Flower-12: Boss Blitz, she reuses her strategy from the first encounter.
In the credits, she can be seen next to Boom Boom, comforting him over their recent loss.
Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Pom Pom appears in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as a goalie for the Football event in the Nintendo 3DS version. Although she is not among the main cast of playable characters, the player can take control of her while playing the event, making this her first playable appearance in a game.[4]
General information
Physical appearance
Pom Pom appears to be the female counterpart of Boom Boom, though she has a ponytail and a pair of beads on her head, shorter arms than Boom Boom's, and a smoother and smaller shell with dots similar to that of Buzzy Beetles, while other Koopas have shells with plates and grooves. She has shaped cheeks, a high nose, a low jaw, and deeply curved lips, similar to that of the Koopalings, two large teeth and padded feet like her male couterpart. Unlike the latter, Pom Pom has magenta skin, tan head with red eyes instead of black and pink foot pads instead of light yellow. Her closest resemblance (apart from Boom Boom) is Wendy O. Koopa. The Prima Guide for Super Mario 3D World states that Pom Pom is Boom Boom's sister.
Abilities
Pom Pom's way of fighting is similar to that of a Boomerang Bro. She throws at least two to three boomerangs at Mario, and then jumps away. She also spins in her shell to attack Mario anytime she gets hurt, though in a different manner from Boom Boom and the Koopalings: She hovers in her hard shell and tries to smash on her opponent overhead. Pom Pom can shake her airship just by impacting the floor with her spinning shell. Pom Pom is highly acrobatic as she can perform high jumps and elegant flips after she attacks.
In Super Mario 3D World, she uses the art of ninjutsu to battle. She performs a hand gesture to disappear into pink smoke, which splits and teleport across the arena. She reappears from the split smoke with a large horde of clones equipped with large shurikens to attack with the real Pom Pom, who can be identified by her hair tie and pink shuriken with a bow, traits the clones do not share.
Personality and traits
According to the commentary in Super Mario 3D World Original Soundtrack, Pom Pom wants to be refined and elegant, but is actually prone to losing her temper.[5]
Official profiles
Super Mario 3D Land
North American website bio[2]:
- "Cruising for a bruising in Bowser's airships, Boom Boom and Pom Pom wait for you in the lower chamber. They may look tough, but they're both of a pushover-three quick stomps to the head will take them out."
Gallery
Artwork
Boom Boom and Pom Pom together in Super Mario 3D Land. 
Boom Boom and Pom Pom on their airship in Super Mario 3D Land. 
Pom Pom and Boom Boom on The Bullet Bill Express in Super Mario 3D World.
Names in other languages
References
- ^ Nintendo.co.uk's page on SM3DL reads: "Boom Booms lie in wait for Mario on the battleship." and "Pom Poms lead Mario a merry dance". (Retrieved January 21, 2013)
- ^ a b Nintendo.com's page on SM3DL reads: "Boom Boom & Pom Pom [...] may look tough, but they're a bit of a pushover". (Retrieved January 21, 2013)
- ^ Nintendo.co.jp's SM3DL page (Retrieved January 21, 2013)
- ^ Nintendo of Japan (December 20,2015). 【マリオ＆ソニック ＡＴ リオオリンピック】オリンピック競技：サッカー. Youtube. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
- ^ The Official Super Mario 3D World Soundtrack Booklet reads: "Pom Pom adds a little ladylike elegance to Bowser's crew... or so she'd like to think, anyway. She wants to be refined and elegant, but is actually prone to having major meltdowns. She's a complex character and we wanted to get this across in the music". (Retrieved October 28, 2015)
